Taxidermy Part 1

Taxidermy.

by Leon Luther Pray.

CHAPTER I

TOOLS AND MATERIALS

The art of taxidermy, with its many methods of application, has furnished subject-matter for numerous books, most of these treating the subject in exhaustive style, being written primarily for students who desire to take up the work as a profession. It is the present author's purpose to set forth herein a series of practical methods suited to the needs of the sportsman-amateur who desires personally to preserve trophies and specimens taken on days spent afield with gun or rod.

The lover of field and gun may spend many fascinating hours at his bench, preparing, setting up, and finishing specimens of his own taking.

Besides, the pursuit of this art will afford an amount of remuneration to the amateur who takes it up in a commercial way, doing work for others who have neither the time nor inclination for preparing their own specimens.

The chief requisites for the beginner in taxidermy are joy in working out detail and a moderate amount of patience.

As suitable tools are the primary consideration in contemplating any work in taxidermy, a simple list follows. In this list no heavier work than the mounting of a Virginia deer head is dealt with. This outfit will be found practical for general light use:

A pocket-knife, one or two small scalpels, a kitchen paring-knife, an oil stone and can of oil, a hand drill, a fine fur-comb, one bone sc.r.a.per, one small skin-sc.r.a.per, one pair tinners' shears, one pair five and one-half inch diagonal wire cutters, one pair (same length) Bernard combination wire cutter and pliers, one pair small scissors, two or three a.s.sorted flat files, one hollow handle tool holder with tools and little saw, one good hand-saw, one hack-saw, one upholsterer's regulator, one pair fine tweezers (such as jewelers use), one claw hammer, an a.s.sortment of round and furriers' needles, one or two darning needles, a sack needle, and an a.s.sortment of artists' small bristle and sable brushes (both round and flat).

Make your own stuffing rods, out of any size iron wire, by hammering flat one end of a suitable length, filing teeth into the flat face thus made, and then bending a loop handle on the other end. This type of rod is easily curved or straightened to suit every need.

Those not wishing to buy at once the complete outfit named above will find that they can do good small work to start on with the aid of a pocket-knife, a pair of scissors, a pair of Bernard combination wire cutter and pliers, needles and thread, cord, a pair of tweezers, a hammer and saw, and small drill set.

Suitable materials follow the tools in order.

a.r.s.enic is needed for the preservation of all specimens against moths.

This is most effective when used in solution, which is made as follows: First dampen the a.r.s.enic powder with alcohol to saturate it quickly, when water is added. Place the a.r.s.enic in a large metal pail and to one-half pound of the powder add two gallons of water. Boil hard and steady over a good fire until the a.r.s.enic is completely dissolved. Place the solution thus made in an earthenware jar with closed cover, plainly marked "Poison," and keep out of reach of children. Allow solution to cool before applying to skins. Do not use the pail that the solution was made in for anything else.

When using a.r.s.enic-water grease your hands with a little tallow, rubbing well under and around finger-nails and wiping the hands partially dry so that none of the grease will soil fur or feathers. This precaution will keep the a.r.s.enic from entering your skin.

Wash the hands with soap powder and a nail brush after work.

Apply a.r.s.enic-water with a brush, or a cotton-and-wire swab, to all inner surfaces of specimen skins.

Carbolic acid (best to procure U. S. P. pure crystals if possible) is needed for use in dilute form for relaxing dried skins. This prevents decay and does not injure the specimen skin. A few drops of the dissolved crystal to a quart of water is sufficient. Keep carefully labeled and in a safe place.

Following is a list of the materials needed for general light work:

A quant.i.ty of fine excelsior, fine tow and cotton batting, a quant.i.ty of various sizes of galvanized soft steel wire, an a.s.sortment of colored, enameled artificial eyes (procure a taxidermist's supply-house catalog and from this order your special tools and sizes and colors of eyes needed), a jar of liquid cement, dry glue (for melting up for papier-mache), dry paper pulp, plaster of paris, Venetian turpentine, boiled linseed oil, boracic acid, some refined beeswax, a little balsam-fir, white varnish, turpentine, alcohol, benzine and a student's palette of tube oil colors (such as vermilion, rose madder, burnt sienna, yellow ochre, cadmium yellow middle, zinc white, cobalt blue, French ultramarine Blue, and Viridian).

Plastic compositions of papier-mache are essential, especially in mammal and game-head work, for properly finishing the details of ears, face, and feet of specimens after the body has been filled. These are applied partly as a last detail before mounting and partly after the figure is set up.

Compo. No. I is practical for all-around use. Take one-third hot melted glue and two-thirds flour paste (thick and thoroughly cooked). To this add a little boracic acid, a little a.r.s.enic powder, a very little of Venetian turpentine, a quant.i.ty of gray building-paper pulp (soak paper and squeeze and beat up even and then squeeze water out). To furnish a body to this ma.s.s, stir in dry white lead until middling thick. Beat the whole well together.

When carried so far this compo. is a powerful adhesive medium and may be employed to stick tanned deer scalps to mannikins, and ear skin of same to the lead cartilages.

Compo. No. II is No. I with fine plaster of paris added until of the consistency of modeling clay or a trifle stiffer. This makes it ready for filling ear b.u.t.ts, eye sockets, noses, and feet for modeling into permanent shape. Sets by drying.

Compo. No. III is for monkey faces, vulture heads, lizards, turtles, etc. This composition dries very slowly and must be touched up now and then while drying, to preserve the details without warping. When dry it is like stone and holds the skin firmly. Take gray paper-pulp, hot melted glue (quant.i.ty according to amount of compo. needed), a little boracic acid (to prevent decay of glue), boiled linseed oil (fifty per cent. less than glue), a little a.r.s.enic powder (to prevent dermestes from eating into work), and to this ma.s.s add whiting until desired stiffness for modeling under skin is obtained. Beat and rub to an even smoothness and stop adding whiting at point where compo. is thick but still very sticky. Rub some of the compo. into inner surface of skin to be finished with it or skin will not take hold of mannikin or compo. to stay.

After modeling is finished under the skin apply linseed oil on outside and repeat this application several times during the period of drying.

Watch and remodel details if any distortion attends the drying process.

Fine fleshy wrinkles and skin details can be worked out with this compo.

It will hold a thin raw skin where it is put, but is not practical under fur or feathers.

Compo. No. IV may be used with wire netting or rough board as a base for making earth bases, imitation rock stands, etc. Take one-third hot melted glue, two-thirds flour paste, a quant.i.ty of paper pulp, a small amount of boiled linseed oil, a very little of Venetian turpentine, boracic acid, and a.r.s.enic. Thicken to modeling consistency with plaster of paris, coloring by adding some dry raw umber or lamp black and burnt umber.

Surface the bases made of this compo. by pressing sand, gravel, or forest mold into the face and when dry shake off the loose material.

Touch up with tube colors, as desired, and when this is dry apply a very thin varnish and turpentine finish to bring out a natural damp look.

A foreword as to care of mountable specimens in the field may save a great amount of cleaning of mussed skins in the shop.

All shot or bullet holes should be immediately plugged with cotton when specimens are taken. Take a little cotton along in your hunting coat for this purpose.

In birds plug also the mouth, nostrils, and vent to prevent escape of juices into plumage. A small sharpened twig will serve to place the plugs. Slip the bird head first into a paper cone for carrying.

Mussed or blood-stained specimens should not necessarily be discarded.

Look them over first. Many such specimens may be cleaned very easily and come out in the finish as nearly perfect as others that appeared much better at the start.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

PREPARING AND MOUNTING A BIRD

CHAPTER II

PREPARING AND MOUNTING A BIRD

With tools and materials a.s.sembled and table in readiness, we come to the real work and, in the order of things, will address the preparing and mounting of a fresh bird specimen. To many people of long experience in the art of taxidermy this task never ceases to be a delightful operation, one of the pleasantest of many interesting bits of work that may result from a day spent afield.

Figuratively, the specimen lies before us, upon the bench. Make it any native bird your fancy desires. The following notes will be found to cover the ground:

A pencil and a sheet of wrapping paper will first be brought into service. With these make outlines of the specimen, top and side views, laying the bird upon the paper and drawing the pencil around it while looking straight down upon it.

After the skinning, outline the body, top, and side views, upon same sheet, with position of shoulder joint, hip joint, knee, and tail marked in black spots.

This system of wrapping paper sketches will be found of great value in all work, from mounting a bird to setting up a deer head.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 1.]

To begin skinning, lay the bird upon a newspaper, head to left of you, on the bench. Have cornmeal handy. Part the belly and breast feathers up middle. With a scalpel make an incision (see Fig. 1) from within one inch of front end of breast bone back to a quarter-inch forward of the vent in large birds, and to the vent in small ones. Use care not to cut through abdominal wall, which is usually very thin and may easily be confused as a part of the skin, being closely bound to it. The two are easily separated, however.